A broken world tale inspired by Jack Vance

Review posted originally on Bookwyrm - https://books.theunseen.city/user/4thace/review/202589#anchor-202589

I liked the first third of this book as we accompany the magic-using roguish title character who is unjustly executed and has to follow his way back out of the revolting pit where others of his heritage re-vivify from. This is at the West pole of a tidally locked planet always facing away from the sun, in contrast to the opposite hemisphere where science works and is in perpetual daylight. Jack has nothing but his own toughness and cunning to face a series of adversaries. There is a vampire, a mind-controlling rock formation, groups of thuggish swordsmen hired by a wizardly land baron, and another landlord also casting powerful magic. He is driven by his burning desire for revenge on the ones originally responsible for his execution, but is overmatched and taken captive. The prison appears to be inescapable but he manages a neat magical trick to work his way out of the situation.

In the middle section we learn more about his motivation as he meets up with two female characters who once had feelings for him long ago. There is a lack of full trust in him and get an idea of why his previous actions led to that. He crosses over to the daylight side of the planet searching for the most powerful magical tool using the kind of mainframe computing that was state of the art at the time this book was written. We see another secondary female character who calls him out on his manipulation and deceitfulness. Then with the magical key in his possession, he makes his way back to the dark side and begins his plan to build the ultimate fortress of power with his new abilities. He defeats the wizard who had imprisoned him and basically mind controls his consort, he woman that had been the motivation for his life of crime. This is when it is made clear how far from virtue the one character we identified with has always been.

Jack is the big bad lord now, having defeated all opposition in this realm, yet he has overstepped his moral limits by wiping out so many rivals in a way that jeopardizes the stability of the planet. By destroying the system that underpinned the planet, he has raised up powers that wipes out what he built. On the last page we see him moments away from annihilation, possibly a permanent one, with just a sliver of a chance.

The language and scene construction are up to the author's high standard, the inventiveness in the action passages is first rate. There is really only one other character besides the protagonist in this book where we get to see as a full person amidst a number of lightly sketched out fantasy types, which makes for a weakness. The fantasy worldbuilding of the planet did not bother me too much but I didn't feel too much investment in seeing everything continue on the way it had been set up before the main character knocked everything down. Overall the novel is amusing without striving for greatness the way a well-planned action adventure storage can aspire to.

I listened to the 2024 audiobook version which is competently narrated, over the course of two and a half pleasant weeks.